The HalfHalt
by Antivione
Summary: Ulla, a troubled young girl from Austria, has lost her parents to Death Eaters. With no relatives left, she is shipped off to Hogwarts where her god-father resides - One Severus Snape. Along with her, Ulla brings an unexpected entourage and the burden of
1. Default Chapter

My first fic, though by no means do I want anyone to go all soft and sappy on me in it's reviews. :P Just as a side note, more description of Ulla and at least Neida will be offered in the second chapter, which I hope to upload soon. Also, it'll move into a more-traditional Hogwarts atmosphere after this chapter. Please R&R if you've got the time - I'm anxious for feedback!  
  
The scent of alfalfa hay, sweet feed, and dust should have been comforting reassurance to the thin, trembling form of a girl pressed against the flank of a massive spanish-bred mare standing not-so-quietly in her stall. All throughout the barn, the other horses whickered and snorted to eachother uncertaintly - it sounded so much like human mummers in the darkness. The girl, Ulla as she was called, shuddered violently in her thin nightie and huddled closer to her mare, sensing the worry and anticipation in the animals - they knew that something wasn't right, just not what it was. Ulla knew better, knew that something to that effect had already occured in her own home, her own yard; a scant three or even four hundred feet away from the barn. Unnerved, Ulla's dizzied mind swept back..  
  
"Run, girl, run! Run and hide!"  
  
"But Mum, wait.. "  
  
"No, I said - No, NOW!"  
  
The force of her mother's hands slamming into her back nearly threw young Ulla into the backyard's dew-covered lawn, a glistening field of dark green under the glow of the nearly-full moon. It felt icy cold beneath her toes. As the door slammed and the violent sounds of curses, hexes, and general yelling issued from the house and it's frontyard rose in pitch, Ulla caught her balance and took off in rapid flight. Always an obedient child, she wasn't driven merely out of respect of the command; fear gripped her mind and tensed her body, pumping adrenaline faster, and faster..  
  
Blood pounded in Ulla's ears as she cleared the hedge, nearly slipping again before she veered towards Alberta Line, the nearest road, with the nearest houses.. Suddenly, she stopped dead, a creasing look of pain and worry contorting her features as the horror of the realization shook her. Neida, and all the others! They could neither free themselves or defend themselves against the Death Eaters, should they choose to inflict their cruelty on them, after finishing off her parents.. It was of course very possible that they'd completely overlook the horses, but "what ifs" began it circulate through her mind, and the mere possibility of harm was too much to bear. It wouldn't take long, anyway.. She'd slip their stalls open, saving Neida for last - she could ride the mare to safety. Ulla turned on a dime, and flew to the property's neatly painted white-barn-with-black-trim with speed a track star would envy. A nasty voice in the back of the girl's head wondered exactly what *she* could do to stop a Death Eater if she should run into one, let alone a group of them.. But Ulla ignored it as she ran, never slowing until she'd flew silently on bare feet down the first long aisle of the stable, and come into the box stall area.  
  
Greeted by the whickers of her friends, she shushed them with a soft whicker back. Though she thus far hadn't made the best witch, Ulla seemed to have a most extraordinary knack with animals. Even when she was a young child, she could communicate more effectively with her mother's cat and her father's owl than her own playmates; something her parents found strange but no cause for alarm. Her horses obeyed almost instantly to the girl's silencing, sensing the urgency without fulling gripping the danger of the situation. Her horses.. Now that was a funny thought, Ulla mused. Most belonged to her parents. However.. Judging by what was happening at the house, she no longer had parents, or soon wouldn't. These thoughts hadn't fully processed yet, though - the girl was in a bad state of shock as she reached shakily for the lock on the nearest stall - containing an ebony gelding named Veruthin, when the sounds of approaching voices and the crunch of footsteps on a gravel path interrupted her.  
  
Ulla wheeled around, listening keenly.. So close, yet so far! The path lead in from the front of the stable, she'd carefully avoided it on her way in to avoid detection. Nothing could be done now - they'd be caught as soon as hoof or foot was set out of the barn. Skittishly pressed against the wall, unable to think of what to do, Ulla caught the sound of the voices once again - their tones sharp and hissing. Arguing, she realized, as one of the pair seemed to turn and make their way back up the path. To her dismay, the other set of footsteps headed for the barn again.  
  
Panicked, Ulla's eyes darted down the aisle to rest on Neida's nameplate, gleaming in the most minimal moonlight striking it through a window. Without hesitation, she flew to the mare's stall, and hoisted herself over it's boards, landing in the soft straw with a dull thud.  
  
And that was how she came to be pressed against Neida's side, flinching at every sound around her, even at those of her fellow creatures in their surrounding stalls. The footfalls continued, and she strained to her them on the paved barn floor where they were no near as audible as they were on the gravel. Tension brewed in the animals; Ulla could here them pacing, whickering to one another, bumping into water buckets and giving the occasional snort or blow. Neida herself puffed and blew, but didn't move. Ulla was thankful, and felt almost safe behind the big mare. They'll move on, see that it's only a barn, full of harmless horses. But oh, what if.. Her breath caught in her throat as she heard,  
  
"Lumo-"  
  
A man's voice, cut off by the sudden cry of another, down at the end of the aisle. She hadn't heard this new approach at all, and neither had the first speaker, either.  
  
"Expelliarmus!"  
  
There was the sound of desperate scrambling, when suddenly curses and hexes shattered the air, night and nerve of the the horses. Between the screams of the two combatants in the aisle, there was the thrash of panicked animals and mixed with their frightened cries, Ulla could barely hear her own shrill cry of terror, silenced only by a stray curse, zipping it's way into the stall and against her skull in a flash of blinding purple. Everything went black. 


	2. Lost Memories

Okay, the descriptions will come next chapter. For sure. Just couldn't figure out how to work them into this one. Enjoy!  
  
**************************************************************************** ****  
  
Dumbledore waited patiently at his desk for a reply from Severus Snape, hands neatly folded infront of him. He could wait all day, and the professor knew it.  
  
"Well, Headmaster.. This is an unexpected development."  
  
Snape fumed, barely able to contain his rage at what Dumbledore had just finished telling him. Allion Vargen, a friend of his youth, had been killed nearly a week ago at his home in Austria in an altrication involving Death Eaters. It was true that Allion had been a Death Eater himself, like Snape, when he was younger. Like Snape - he'd tried to escape, but hadn't planned it nearly as well as the professor had. It seemed Allion had paid dearly for his mistakes, as did his wife. But this wasn't the problem. Oh no, Allion and Snape hadn't spoke since the two of them weren't quite twenty- five, and the "loss" wasn't exactly heartfelt to Snape. The problem was Allion's daughter, Ulla.  
  
"Snape.. ?"  
  
Snape snapped to attention, scowling at the headmaster. What could he say..? Allion certainly hadn't told him that he'd been the girl's godfather.  
  
"I wasn't even given any knowledge of her birth - No idea that Allion had even married, let alone be told that I was her godfather!"  
  
Albus sighed, leaning back in his chair. Life wasn't going to be easy for this girl with a godfather like this.  
  
"Snape, the girl has no other relatives, and regardless of whether or not your consent was given.. I believe it is your moral responsibility to assume the position her father obviously trusted you with. It may or may not be easy for her to fit in here, suffering from the epileptic-like fits she does. That alone is enough to deal with, not factoring in the loss of her parents, her home, and the only country she's ever known.. "  
  
"All right, all right Albus. I get the point."  
  
Snape spat out the last word, wishing he could have had the satisfaction of killing Allion himself - the foolish wretch he was!  
  
"Good. First of all, she'll have to be inspected by Pompfrey - we'll need to find some remedy to those fits she has. Once she's sorted into her house, we'll move her belongings there - But I'll give the two of you some time to talk between check-up and getting her settled. You may leave now, Snape."  
  
Snape nodded to the Headmaster respectfully, and whirled around in a swirl of black material to leave.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
The pasture was lovely this particular day. Half-shrouded by the thick morning mists, various species of wild flowers could still be made out amongst the tall grass, their colourful faces swaying gently in the warm breeze. The song of an unseen bird sprang up on the edge of the meadow, and in the distance, vague shapes of horses could be made out. Ulla smiled, spreading her arms so that the breeze tickled her fingertips. She always did that; it felt like a prelude to flight, though Ulla certainly hadn't any wings.  
  
Suddenly, the bird's song fell away, replaced with what sounded like a dull roar. Confused, the girl stared straight ahead as the familiar scene shifted and wavered, feeling an unpleasant heat boil in the pit of her stomach. Sweat blurred her vision further, and as she stumbled to to side, tendrils of pain encircling her head as the boil rose, past her ribs, into her throat and..  
  
"Hold her still; don't let her bash her head!"  
  
"She's thrashing too much, I can't hold.. "  
  
Gloomy light, not total darkness, surrounded her. The voices were gone as quickly as they came. The only thing she couldn't seem to shake was the dizziness, and lethargy in her limbs that made even drawing her knees up to her chin an exhausting task. Home, home.. Where was she? She had been home. In her confusion, she hadn't felt the first few nudges someone was giving her from behind, and the last one was powerful enough to shove her out of her reverie. The warm breath of a large creature rolled over her cheek, smelling of sweet grass, accompanied by tickling whiskers and a velvety soft muzzle.  
  
"Little filly, are you all right?"  
  
The question repeated, and it felt like someone was shaking her shoulders.. The voice pitched higher, and the " little filly" part melted away..  
  
"Hey, listen to me, wake up!"  
  
Ulla's eyes snapped open, only to rest on a pair of big, bright green ones staring back. With a squeal of surprise she sait upright in an instant, the room blurring with her motion and the sound of a sudden thump by the bed.  
  
"What'd you do THAT for?"  
  
A house elf popped it's head up over the coach seat Ulla was sitting on, a scowl screwing up it's funny little face. Relaxing, Ulla ignored it's question and rolled her eyes around the place - A train, she was on a train. That would explain the funny motion she felt. What had happened, though? Her muscles still complained, stiff and as soon as the intial shock of the whole thing wore off, the lethargy returned - though not as badly as in her dream. Ulla pressed her hand up against the cool window, watching the scene outside stream by. Rain and darkness. Turning back to the elf, she finally spoke.  
  
"What's happening, where are we going..? Who ARE you?"  
  
"I'm Nissy, and we're going to Hogwarts, no one tell you? Well, they probably wouldn't have gotten a chance. Seems you got a falling-down sickness. Makes you sleep a lot. Nissy thought she should wake you up to have some food, since you haven't eaten in a long time. But oh no, had to be rude and throw Nissy half-way across the coach!"  
  
Nissy puffed, grabbing a tray off the trolley she must have rolled in. Ulla took the tray as it was thrusted at her, a million questions brewing in her mind. Instead, she inspected her meal. Some tomato-type broth, crackers, a bun and a large cup of hot chocolate.  
  
"Sorry, Nissy; it's just that I don't remember much of.. Well, anything. And we can't be going to Hogwarts. It's in England, for Merlin's sake. And what do you mean, falling-down sickness?"  
  
"Girl's been out for a long time! We ARE in England. The sickness makes Ulla fall down and shake terribly, then fall asleep for who knows how long."  
  
"What? And how do you know my name - And that sickness sounds like.."  
  
Nissy interrupted, again.  
  
"Come a long way in the last week, we have. Nissy belong to Hogwarts, she head of the house elves that work in the kitchens. Was sent to come and collect you as Headmaster bidded." Nissy paused, beaming proudly at Ulla. However, Ulla only stared, and so Nissy scowled once more and continued.. "Your bein' sent there because that's were your godfather lives."  
  
"My godfather?? I haven't got a godfather! What about my Mum and Dad -"  
  
"Nissy very sorry about them."  
  
Nissy turned, and began to polish the tray hurriedly. Ulla had the feeling the house elf was trying to either avoid talking, or just to give her some peace.. Oh, her parents. She'd forgotten. They hadn't made it, then. Ulla slumped down in her seat, the tray resting untouched on her knees. 


End file.
